Whether you are planning to have your first or your sixth child, a pregnancy and the thought of having a baby can make you feel
excited and scared all at the same time.

You might ask yourself:

"What can I do to stay healthy while pregnant?"

"Will we be good parents?"

"How will we afford it?"

Be encouraged, we all go through these feelings and by taking a
proactive approach we can help you make it a more enjoyable experience
for you and your family.

With our sixth child we would like to share with you some ideas that has
helped us with what to expect through the upcoming 9 months.

Here are our 7 essential tips that we believe will inform and encourage
you through your pregnancy stages and keep you feeling confident.

Essential Tip #1: Preparations When I
am planning and preparing for a healthy start in becoming pregnant, I
like to visit my gyneacologist for a medical check-up to make sure that
everything is up to date. During the 3 months before I want to start
trying to have a baby, I take folic acid and I continue to take it
throughout my pregnancy. This can help reduce the risk of neural tube
defects such as spina bifida. I also keep note of my period. With a
regular period your ovulation will occur around 14 days before the start
of your next period. Your best chances to conceive will be 2-3 days
around ovulation. I have noticed that I have thick mucous at this time
which has also become a good indicator whether or not my period is
regular.

Essential Tip #2: Due Date Planning
We like to try and plan the due date for our baby by choosing the month
we would like to have the birth. Be flexible though, as there are no
guarantees. You can use a due date calculator or just look up on your
calendar the date of the first day of your last menstrual period and
count up 280 days(40 weeks). This will give you a good due date
estimate if you have a regular 28-day cycle, keeping in mind a healthy
pregnancy can be 38-42 weeks.

A week after missing your next period you can buy an over the counter at
home urine test at your local pharmacy which will give a positive
result if the hormone hCG is in your urine. Your doctor will perform
this same urine test or a blood test to confirm the presence of hCG to
let you know that you are pregnant.

Essential Tip #3: The Pregnancy Trimesters -What Can I ExpectYour
pregnancy can be divided into three pregnancy trimesters or pregnancy
stages each with challenges and joys of their own. You can expect
different changes in yourself and the development of the fetus at each
stage.

First Trimester pregnancy -- from presumed conception through
the first 12 weeks. In this stage you won't look pregnant but your body
is adjusting to being pregnant. Increased
metabolism along with all bodily functions working harder will make you
feel more tired. Morning sickness results from different levels of
nausea caused by hormonal changes in Progesterone and low blood sugar.
Quick
coping strategies and morning sickness cures
like a 'cracker' snack before getting out of bed in the morning and
eating high carbohydrate foods throughout your day in smaller amounts
can help reduce your nausea. Your baby is growing rapidly, is fully
formed with fingers and toes and even though you won't feel it,
your baby is very active.

Second Trimester pregnancy -- from week 13 to week 28.
This will be your most enjoyable stage as you will become more energetic
and feel your baby's movements for the first time. You will start to
look pregnant as your belly starts to grow with your baby's growth. At
this stage you may experience discomfort from some backache, indigestion
and constipation. Your baby continues to grow, gain weight and mature.
You will enjoy feeling your baby's movements from elbows to wiggling to
kicking.

Third Trimester pregnancy

-- from week 29 to the birth
of your baby (full term 38-42 weeks). This is the final stage and you
may become anxious about labor and want to have your baby right away.
Challenges during this stage could include breathing difficulties,
hypertension, backache, preeclampsia, stretch marks and you may even
feel your womb practicing for labor with "Braxton-Hicks" contractions.
Moving and sleeping are also difficult and uncomfortable. Your baby
reaches full growth, curls up tightly in your womb and begins to drop
into the head-down position waiting to be born to join you in your
loving arms.

Essential Tip #4: Importance Of Your Health Eating
well and keeping fit will help you cope with the high demands now
placed on you and your baby. Your nutrient absorption is efficiently
high. We want to share with you food sources for vitamins and minerals
your baby needs for optimal health, growth & development through
each pregnancy month.

It's important to know what is safe for you and your baby to eat and to
have some strategies that can help you deal with crazy cravings and
midnight snack attacks.

I have been incredibly encouraged to learn the importance of keeping up
with some regular basic exercises 2 to 3 times a week. Just learning
that it stimulates my baby's growth and development and that in the long
term can benefit my own health has given me extra motivation to keep
with it despite having a busy schedule.

Your health is important. A healthy amount of recovery time after a
miscarriage, a c-section and planning for another child can help you
mentally and physically.

Essential Tip #5: Waiting To Be Surprised? Decide
ahead of time whether or not you want to be surprised or told by your
doctor if your baby is a boy or a girl. We have opted for the surprise
each time, but either way you can start planning on names, furniture,
clothing, toys and interior decorating to welcome the arrival of your
new family member.

Choosing the right name can be tough, but with alphabetical listings,
top baby names lists and even family suggestions you can settle on your
baby's name before the birth or decide from your top choices once you
hold your baby in your arms. We have enjoyed putting together a small
list of baby boy names and baby girl names that we make our choice from
after holding each new baby for a couple of days and see which name
suits the baby best.

Each pregnancy and every baby is a blessing and our prayer for you is
that your baby, whether it will be a boy or a girl will be happy and
healthy.

Essential Tip #6: Delivery Plans There are many baby delivery options that you can choose, from
home births
or
hospital births
and even
birthing centers
Some other possibilities for your labor are a
natural birth
or a
water birth
or maybe a more
active birth
and in some cases it may be preferred or necessary to have a
cesarean or c-section birth
. Even though you may already be set on one option I would encourage
you to be flexible and weigh out each one and be prepared for
uncertainties. Getting acquainted with the actual options available to
you will help you in making a more informed decision as there are
differences to consider in each case.

Being prepared for your in home or hospital birth can be done with a
checklist. By planning 2-3 weeks ahead of your baby's due date of what
you need to have available at home or
what you should bring with you in your "Hospital Ready Bag"
can relieve you of some stress when your labor suddenly begins.

Essential Tip #7: Family, Finances and FatherhoodPreparing
siblings, the new father and adjusting your family finances for your
new baby can be challenging. Preparing family members begins at home
well before the delivery date. We like to include all of our kids in
the excitement of being blessed with the privilege to welcome a new baby
into our family. We try to look daily for opportunities to deal with
jealousy and territorial issues that could take root in one of our
children. Sharing our home, being a teacher to the new baby and
continuing to be assured of receiving our time, love and attention helps
our kids to accept the new baby as a part of "their" lives.

Finances for the family requires review and adjustments as a new
baby will cost you around 20% of your income. Forward expense planning
before the baby's arrival will help lessen the financial shock of having
a growing family. Living off of one income and updating your family
income statement will give you a clear picture of how to work with
supplying all the needs and extra expenses of having another family
member. It's a great practice "run through" if you want to keep the new
mom home from work for the first year. We enjoyed having mom home
after our first child so much that we decided to live off of one income
and have kept mom home ever since.

Dads, a lot of attention will be given to the new baby and we
need to be patient, understanding and extra considerate for the full
first year. Let's remember that the new mom is dealing with incredible
changes in her life as well and that the first year is crucially
important to the physical, mental and emotional development of your
baby. Be an active help and support to her needs in every way you can
think of and keep some special time each day just for the two of you to
talk, laugh and play together. Hugs, kisses and little notes to show
your wife you appreciate her and are thinking about her keeps your
relationship charged.

Have fun with the beautiful addition to your family. Relax and
enjoy every minute with each of them because it really does go fast.